Second Trump-Kim Summit Is "Last Chance" to Denuclearize Peninsula, Warns South Korea

GettyImages-1060700942
Pictured are North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un at the Inter-Korean summit in Panmunjom on April 27, 2018, and U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House in Washington, DC on November 7, 2018. A... MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

South Korean media are speculating that the talks between President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un could provide the last real chance at a genuine deal for denuclearizing the peninsula.

North Korea's top negotiator, Kim Yong-chol, was in Washington on Friday to meet Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and pave the way for the summit, the BBC reported.

The White House announced Trump and Kim will meet for the second time in late February, with South Korea hoping that it will kick-start negotiations on denuclearization, eight months on from the summit in Singapore.

Read more: White House reveals when Donald Trump will next meet North Korea's Kim Jong Un

An editorial in the Korea JoongAng Daily said the talks "can serve as a meaningful step toward the goal of denuclearizing the North. But we need to take a deep breath."

In the piece headlined "The Last Chance," the paper said: "The clock is ticking. One or two months from now will be a turning point. Demonstrating sincerity toward denuclearization is the only way for North Korea to go."

Meanwhile the Dong-A Ilbo newspaper warned that a rushed summit might result in "dangerous acquiescence to a nuclear North Korea."

Kim said if the U.S. also took "corresponding steps" Pyongyang would dismantle his nuclear processing site at Yongbyon. He would also be likely to want sanctions relief.

But there is concern that there is no concrete agreement and that Trump might allow Kim to focus on dismantling Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs)

Duyeon Kim, a Seoul-based adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, told The Washington Post: "The next summit will be an indicator of whether real denuclearization can happen at all, how much of it can be done, and how long it might take."

Meanwhile Joseph Yun, a senior adviser at the United States Institute of Peace, told The Post another summit like the one in Singapore would allow Pyongyang to delay the process, playing "into North Korea's hands."

Trump and Kim "need to get down and have some framework, and get some meaningful deliverables within a reasonable period of time," Yun added.

Jenny Town, a North Korea expert at Washington-based think tank 38 North, said according to The Guardian: "The North Koreans need a real indication of what the US is willing to put on the table."

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Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more

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